According to a Nokia source, the software has a look more similar to Windows Phone than to the "squircle" icons used on the Asha. Normandy would also serve as a way to deliver Microsoft services such as Bing and Skype.

That is seen by some at Microsoft as a more palatable alternative than seeing more of those first-time smartphone buyers sign up not just for Android but also for Google's array of services.

Makes sense. It does raise another question, though: wouldn't this be yet another operating system Microsoft would need to develop and support?

Access to corporate resources over a secure connection is far from a corner case. Exchange is just one example, that happens to be most widely used.
It is also far from cherry picked - it's plain the most visible element when it comes to use of a mobile device in the enterprise.